Settling car accident privately.

plorf

Hi everyone, I would be grateful if any one can help me out on this.

A friend of mine was recenty involved in a car accident. It was the fault of the third party, who was keen to resolve the situation outside of insurance, and my friend decided that he would try and help out, and initially agreed to that request.

However, my friend has already reported that the accident did take place to his insurance company, although he did not divulge any information about the 3rd party involved, he just requested a claim form saying he will give everything later on.

My question is, if he decides to settle privately, can he simply withdraw the claim from the insurance without any problems? I'm slightly concerned by the fact that because the accident was reported, will there still be a mark left on his record showing this accident? Would that potentially affect his premiums at all? Could the insurance company consider this to be an "unresolved case" and consider him to be of higher risk as a result?

Also, if he does withdraw the claim, is there likely to be any follow ups from the insurance requesting more information, as he hasn't yet given any information about the 3rd party. Or is it the case, once you withdraw a claim, its withdrawn, and no further action will be taken.

Will appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

erdd2

Did your friend obtain the other party's insurance details?

plorf

Hi there,

As far as I know, he's got got their contact details, name, address and tel no.

erdd2

Are these details legit.....there have been cases of people being "taken for a ride" with "lets not go down the insurance route", some have even had claims put in against them after the event!

plorf

Thanks for your help. To be honest, I'm not too sure. He has been in contact via mobile phone, I'm not sure if that can be traced to his home... He has been sending texts saying he'll give money etc, would it be possible to use this as evidence of fault? Although these do not explicitly state its for the accident however.

If he doesn't pay up, my friend is planning to go through the insurance route, with the details he provided... 3rd party did offer to meet up at a private job he was doing, to give a small amount already to cover some of the costs, although my friend didn't have time to go and collect, with 3rd party now saying he will pay the full amount in 2 payments over next week. I'm not entirely sure how that will work out tho... He does seem to be trying buy time however. My friend is expecting some payment in next few days.

If he does pay up, can we simply put an end to the claim without any hassle? Or if he doesn't pay up, what's the best course of action to take...?

Much appreciated!

erdd2

If the police were not called it is up to the parties to decide insurance or private settlement. If other party pays up and your friend accepts this...job done, if not he should send claim

plorf

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it!

Just to clarify, if he does manage to privately settle, can he simply close the claim with insurer without any further investigations taking place regarding incident (eg. providing details of 3rd party to insurance company), and without any affect on premiums? Is there any possibility that this may go against any insurers T&Cs?

Also, because this was reported, even if he does close the claim, will this incident still be kept on record? That is, will he have to notify any insurers about it if he decides to get future insurance quotes?

Has been a bit of a headache this one... I was pushing him to go through the insurance, but he thought otherwise. Hopefully the 3rd party does pay up.

Thanks again, you've been really helpful.

erdd2

Sorry I cannot help with the legalities of not going though insurance as I have no knowledge or experience of this. You are however correct to check this as it may have implications/be illegal..the joys of motoring

plorf

Hehe, thanks for your help mate. Hopefully someone can enlighten us, can we simply close the claim after private settlement without any hassle?

Cheers.

System

The policy holder should read their car insurance policy booklet.

Have a read of the "General Conditions" - "Claims Procedure" section.

It may say something along the lines of : .... You must report accidents, claims ..... to us as soon as possible. ......

So, if a claim could be made then you should inform the insurer immediately, otherwise they may ask what the delay was caused by and the delay may impact on the insurance companies ability to obtain all the facts they will need.

Note, in my policy booklet, under the heading of : "What you should do After An Accident" - it also says:

..... You must call our Claims Helpline as soon as possible, even if you do not plan to make a claim .....

But to answer your question...
Whenever you take out a car insurance policy or when you renew your policy, you declare that nothing has changed that materially alters the policy.

On the policy documents there may be a declaration worded something like :

I declare that I ....
"Have not been involved in any accidents, losses or thefts in the last 5 years, regardless of whether a claim was made."

So, if the policy booklet and/or the policy documents included wording like the above, then you MUST inform the insurance company, and they will record these facts and it may impact on your premium - that is what insurance is all about - the assessment of risk.

Quentin

plorf wrote: »

Hehe, thanks for your help mate. Hopefully someone can enlighten us, can we simply close the claim after private settlement without any hassle?

Cheers.

As previously posted, having already informed your insurer of the incident, then you will need to declare it to any other insurer you approach for a quote in future (insurers normally ask for your history over 3 to 5 years). Failure to do so would be a breach of the policy conditions, and as your incident will now be on the database, they will find out!

As your insurer knows about the incident, they may insist on getting the third party details (so they are in the picture should the third party change their stance and put in a claim against you). They may keep the incident "open" pending getting full info.